Published 5:43 pm, Monday, January 17, 2011

Rodney Milum was feeling his shot from the outside and his Midland College teammates were playing great defense against New Mexico Junior College on Monday night.

It all equaled a 74-52 blowout by the No. 18-ranked Chaparrals over NMJC in a key Western Junior College Athletic Conference game at Chaparral Center.

With the victory, Midland College improved to 17-2 overall and 3-0 in WJCAC play. NMJC fell to 14-3, 1-2.

Four Chaps were in double figures led by Milum and Guy Landry with 15 points each. Landry also had 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Ty Nurse added 12 points and Jamaal Trice had 11 for MC.

Defensively, the Chaps were stellar as they held an athletic Thunderbird squad to 30.4 percent shooting, and that had MC head coach Ross Hodge smiling, at least a little bit, after the game.

“I was proud with our defensive effort all game long,” Hodge said. “At the half we looked at two things. We were guarding well in the first half but we were turning the ball way too much and we were giving up too many offensive rebounds. In the second half we tightened both those areas up and that’s what really allowed us to separate.”

MC had 18 turnovers at the half and finish with just 23, while NMJC had 10 offensive rebounds at the half and finished with only 15 for the game. Those adjustments turned 34-29 halftime lead for the Chaps into a blowout.

“We had to stay poised and we had to play defense,” Milum said. “Our main focus was boxing out because they got a lot of offensive rebounds. When we got into our offense, we just moved the ball around and got some open shots.”

Those open shots led to MC shooting 8 for 16 from 3-point range, led by Milum’s 5-of-8 performance from beyond the arc.

“My teammates were getting me open,” Milum said. “They saw I was hot so they kept screening for me. The man that was guarding me couldn’t get through the screens. I thank my teammates for that.”

Hodge said he wasn’t too surprised with the way his team was able to shoot the ball. To go with hitting 50 percent from 3-point range, MC was 55 percent from the floor for the game.

“We’ve got some guys who can make shots,” Hodge said. “When we don’t turn the ball over we can shoot a pretty good percentage from the floor and from the 3. Obviously Rodney accounted for five of those eight (3-pointers), but he can shoot the ball.”

It was a good performance for the Chaps, who now turn their focus to their trip to rival and defending national champion Howard College on Thursday.

“Every game is so big and each game is equally important,” Hodge said. “The Howard game ought be fun for our guys and their guys and fun for both communities, but it’s really just one of 14 (conference games).”

Milum said his team should be excited for its game against the Hawks.

“We just got two more days to get ready for them,” Milum said. “We just have to come to practice, work hard, stay focused and compete.”